Into the East
by Gandalf -Dumbledore -Obi-Wan
Summary: Kind of a prequelsequel to My Old Friend. About Saruman, and what started him on his path to corruption, written in Saruman's POV. Dedicated to LHT. Yes, I know, I suck at summaries, but PLEASE R&R. Anonymous reviews accepted.
1. I Do Not Regret

Disclaimer: I own nothing. -sarcastically- Wow, that's new…

INTO THE EAST

"_I will go alone, and tell you all I learn and see," I assured him. "You must stay, and mourn for your friend. Help his family carry on."_

_He was unsure, not willing to let me go alone._

"_The East hosts greater dangers than the West, Saruman, and not all come in forms of obvious evil. Remember why we came here; to stop the growing evil in Mirkwood. It could be one of the Ulairi, and then again it may not be. Beware of all the strangers you meet."_

"_I will be fine, Gandalf. Am I not one of the Maiar, the greatest of the Istari? You worry too much." I smiled at my friend._

"_Perhaps you are right." He fingered the red ring he had worn since he came. I often wondered where he got it, why he wore it. Now I know. "But be careful, Saruman. Do not go looking for trouble."_

"_But that is the whole reason of the mission," I laughed. "To look for trouble. But I will be careful. I will look for trouble, and I will find out what it is, and then I will leave. I have spoken to Radagast, and he has arranged for one of his bird-friends to come with me, so I may send letters to you."_

"_Well, all right," he said at last, smiling._

"_I will write to you every week," I promised. "Do not worry, my old friend."_

Now, as I sit on my cold iron throne in my tower, Orthanc, I remember my old self. I used to laugh with Gandalf, take long walks with him in the woods of Fangorn as we discussed different topics at great length, and travel to distant lands with him. We were the best of friends.

But now, he is imprisoned at the top of Orthanc. Fangorn is slowly being chopped down by my orcs to feed the forges that make the weapons. I no longer travel, but stay always in Orthanc, and use others to gather information.

I do not regret. I know I will win this war, that Sauron will triumph. And when I gain his trust, when I am his most valued servant, even over the Nazgul, then, I will destroy him, and take Middle Earth, and the Ring, for myself. I do not regret. I do not regret. I do not regret.

But I cannot help but remember how I came to this, why I am here, aiding Sauron, not fighting him.

A/N: I know, short, but if you review I will update ASAP. It is spring break(YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!), so I will be able to update quickly. Use that to your advantage!


	2. Elen

Disclaimer: -disclaims self-

Oxynthes- Why thank you, Jessi. :) Why do you think I should "refrain from updating"? (even though it's too late)

Darkaus: Glad you like it. :) It should fulfill your want of evil bad-guy thoughts…

CHAPTER TWO: ELEN

_I walked into the stables, where my horse awaited me. I was pleasantly surprised to see Radagast standing next to my horse, stroking its nose and speaking to it in some language I did not know._

"_Radagast!" I cried. "It is wonderful to see you. I thought you were just going to put the bird here and leave."_

_He looked at me solemnly. "Oh, no, I could never do that. I had to make sure that you and the bird would get along. And I wouldn't be able to leave her alone, because she would fly away after me if there was no one there. Or she might get in an argument with one of the horses, and there would be a fight. And then there was the trivial matter of me saying goodbye to you," he said in jest._

"_Well, I shan't keep you long." I looked around, but saw no bird. "Where is it?"_

"_She is up there," Radagast said, pointing._

_I looked up to the rafters, and saw a beautiful, but lethal looking falcon._

"_Are you sure it's quite safe?" I asked, eyeing its claws._

"_She is perfectly harmless- if you stay on her good side. I chose her because she serves as a double purpose: for you to send letters to Olorin, and to hunt if you run out of food, or to supply food for herself. Her name is Elen. It means 'star' in Elvish. Or so Olorin told me."_

"_I am not learned in the Elvish language, but he is. I have no doubt that it means whatever he said it means."_

_There was a silence as my eyes wandered to a grey mare, the one Gandalf would have ridden if he had come._

"_Well," I said, ending the moment, "will you introduce her to me?"_

"_Of course." Radagast held up his arm, and said something-I had no idea what- in a series of noises that sounded, well, odd. Immediately, the falcon left the rafters and alighted on his arm. Then he said something else, and she flew over and landed on my arm._

_I looked at her nervously. She looked at me disdainfully, and then took off into the air, soared around, then landed with a flourish on the horse's saddlebags._

"_She's showing off," said Radagast. "But she likes you."_

"_Really? She looked at me as if I were a small bug."_

"_That's usual," he said. "If she didn't like you, then you would no longer have eyes."_

"_What?"_

"_Don't worry, if she had started to attack you I would have called her off."_

"_Hmph."_

Maybe I do regret. A little. I remember what I said of Radagast to Gandalf, and feel a pang of guilt.

"_Radagast the Simple, Radagast the Bird-Tamer, Radagast the Fool!"_

Mayhap I should not have speaken so harshly of him…

No! What am I thinking? That useless thing, he is almost as bad as Gandalf, and here I am feeling _guilty _about him?

I shake my head, trying to clear it. My mind goes to Gandalf again. Mayhap I will be able to take the ring he has from him… if I do, should I give it to Sauron? Or keep it for myself? Much as I am tempted to choose the latter course, I know that Sauron will find out, and he will never trust me. But if I give Narya to him, he will trust me and value me much more. Narya! One of the missing Elvish Rings! All this time, Gandalf had it, and he never told me. He will pay for that… I will not take it from him yet. I want him to think his secret is safe. He has already spent many nights at the top of Orthanc, and it gives me great pleasure to think of him, cold, wet, hungry, and hurt, up there, with no one to help him.

Yes, he has already suffered, but I wish him to suffer more. I will make him suffer as I suffered.


	3. The Prancing Pony

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except for Elen the falcon and Butterbur's parents and Saruman's horse and the gatekeeper and the idea of the story. …you know, when I put it that way, it sounds like I actually own a lot of stuff! -looks proud-

Darkaus: Here you go!

CHAPTER THREE: THE PRANCING PONY

_My horse, Asaril, slowed to a trot as we crossed a small bridge that arced over a pretty little brook._

_It was late afternoon, and I was getting hungry. There was a village up ahead, and that meant there would be inns, so I would have a warm meal and a place to sleep. _

_But before I entered the village, I had to cross another, larger bridge, which had a barrier built across it, with watchmen guarding it._

_As I came to it, a man with a short, black beard asked me my name and what business I had in the town._

"_My name is Saruman," I said, "and I simply wish to stop for the night for a hot meal and somewhere to sleep."_

_They let me in with no further questioning._

_I decided to eat dinner and spend the night at the first inn I came to._

_As I neared one, I became glad of my decision, as it looked cozy and friendly. A sign hanging from it read "The Prancing Pony."_

_As I stopped my horse on the side of the road in front of the inn, a boy came running out of the door. A woman rushed out soon after._

"_Barliman!" she shouted. "Get back in here and help your father chop the wood!"_

_The boy, who was rather fat, reluctantly turned and came back to the woman, who, holding him by the ear, took him back inside._

"_Excuse me!" I shouted, just before the door slammed shut behind them._

_The woman turned, came back out. She looked at me in surprise, eyeing the falcon with discomfort._

"_Is there something I can do for you?"_

"_Is the inn open? I would like a place to sleep, and a meal to eat."_

"_Well, of course. Just a moment." She turned, and shouted to the boy inside. "Barliman! Come out and take this man's horse and cart to the stables." Turning back to me, she asked "Is there anything you'd like to bring inside with you? If there is, take it now, and come in when you're ready. My husband will show you your room." With that, she went back inside._

_The boy stared at my staff. Ignoring him, I gingerly allowed the falcon onto my arm, and took my staff, and a bag that had a fresh set of robes and some money in it. Handing the reins of the horse to the boy, I went inside._

_A short, fat man greeted me heartily and took me to my room. He told me I was welcome to come down and have a drink at the bar, or, if I pleased, eat my dinner in my room. I chose the latter, not wishing to be around the boisterous crowd of young people I had seen downstairs._

_The dinner was hot and good, and after I ate, I opened the window so that the falcon could go in and out as it pleased, and then went to bed. Although I was tired, I lay there, awake, for a while, thinking._

As I think of Bree, I remember that the new innkeeper, Barliman Butterbur, who was but a boy when I was there, is a friend of Gandalf. They are fools, both of them.


	4. Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people, places, things, or ideas of LOTR that are in this story, except for the ones I made up (see chapter 3's disclaimer).

Laiquendi: Thanks so much! And let me say again, you have a _lot _of talent in poetry. I wish I could write like that…

CHAPTER FOUR: NATURE

_I woke the next morning, feeling much more alert and awake. After changing into a fresh set of robes, I went downstairs- leaving the falcon and my staff in the room- to get breakfast._

_Then I went out to check on Asaril and my things, and found them in good order._

_After paying the innkeeper, I took my bag, my staff, and the falcon to the cart, hitched Asaril to it, and started off._

_The town of Bree was very pretty and- for lack of a better word,- quaint, and I enjoyed watching people going through their morning routines as I rode past. I usually stayed in isolated areas, and didn't see much of people, so it was a treat to drive through a town full of them, although I got quite a few stares._

_But soon the town was past me, and it was just the Road. There were farms on either side at first, but after a while they became less common, and soon there were none. Wilderness was all around, and I felt happy to be on the move again. Birds flitted and fluttered all around, and I saw a family of squirrels peeking out from a tree. Once a fox ran across the road, making my horse shy._

_The falcon took off after a bit, and was gone for a while. Just as I was beginning to worry about her, she arrived back with a piece of something in her claws. It was mangled and bloody, and I averted my eyes._

_But apart from the stench of Elen's food, everything was beautiful. The air was fresh and clean, and I greatly enjoyed watching the animals as I had the people of Bree._

Remembering this, I feel a longing to go out and be among nature again. But the forest is dangerous for me now, as the trees and their shepherds despise me. I could go to the top of Orthanc and be near the stars- but no, Gandalf is imprisoned there. Mayhap I should move him to another part of the tower… but no, that is the only place where is exposed to the elements. And he suffers there the most.

But he does not suffer as I did.


End file.
